Memorial Day in the US is a federal holiday that commemorates people who have died in military service. Being non-traditionally employed, I didn't get yesterday off any more than I ever get a day off from work, but I did celebrate by watching the coverage on CNN off and on all day (that is, when I wasn't watching a Stargate Atlantis marathon on the Sci Fi channel) [I can multi-task], and having a barbecue for dinner.

Not to be disrespectful, or callous. The Indianapolis 500 has been held on Memorial Day since 1911, after all. (Thanks for that odd fact, Wikipedia!)

Peanut celebrated by coming outside with us for a while. You can see him here with a glass of beer for the humans, and a bottle cap of sunflower seeds for the birds. I don't actually take Peanut outside very often. I'm lazy, I guess. But he seems to enjoy it. He talks to the other birds and noisy creatures, climbs around on the ceiling of the travel cage, regurgitates every now and then, and makes "arnk" noises. And then, when he gets back home to his own house, he squeaks and squirkles, picks his toes, preens a bit, and takes a nap.

We all lead very boring lives in my house. Apparently.

On May 22, 2006, the United States House of Representatives approved a bill that would force local and state officials to include pets and service animals in evacuation plans. The "Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act" passed with 349 in favor, 24 disapproving. A similar measure awaits approval in the United States Senate. You can read about it on Christopher Shays' web site — he was one of the sponsors of the bill.

The bill was written in response to the plight of pets and their human companions during hurricane Katrina, when the people were forced to leave the animals behind. The bill requires state and local preparedness offices to include pets and service animals in their emergency preparedness and evacuation plans. Or, you know, they don't get federal money. Heh.

Shays pointed out that "When asked to choose between abandoning their pets or their personal safety, many pet owners chose to risk their lives." Well, yeah. Bruce and I would totally be waiting until nightfall so we could catch the Finsters while the tornado ripped the place apart around us.

By the way, Louisiana and areas hit by Katrina and the other hurricanes from last season are still a mess. Visit the Humane Society of Louisiana, to find out what's going on with animals there.

A bird care catalogue just started offering alfalfa and timothy hay. For birds! For playing with, snacking on, and making nests. Since we've run out of raffia, we decided to try some.

Yes, Peanut has Mind Controlled me on behalf of the Finsters. Occasionally, even I am weak.

We got the timothy (why? because I have a nephew named Timothy). It's, you know, grass. It smells like grass, looks like grass, is grass. Dried grass. And despite the fact that the package doesn't have any birds on it, the Finsters like it quite a lot. They play with it, snack on it, and make nests with it. Boy howdy! do they make nests with it!

I believe the raffia is more popular than the grass for nest building, although it isn't always easy to tell. Part of the appeal of the raffia is that it dangles so nicely from the tip of your beak, and the ends can be frayed into pretty decorations. And depending on how I cut the raffia, the pieces can be longer than the grass — at any rate, the raffia remains longer, for longer, than the timothy does, since the grass tends to break up into smaller bits.

And as we all know, the longer the grass, the better the Mating Aid.

But some of the pieces of timothy are strong and long, and are very good for dangling from the tip of your beak while you're trying to wow the girls in town. And they're also good for building nests. Except that they don't bend very well, once they're maneuvered inside.

Yesterday Szechwan (Pepper) got a nice, big piece of grass up and into his nest. But the end stuck out of the entry way, so Cinnamon pulled it right out again. He had it dangling from his beak while standing on the perch, and was just about to take it into his own nest box, when Szechwan (Pepper) came out of his nest and stole it back. He got it into his box, but since the end was sticking out of the hole, Cinnamon grabbed it and pulled it right out again. He hopped along the perch to get into a good position to take it into his own nest, when along came Szechwan (Pepper) to steal it back again.

Well, you get the picture. Good times!

Peanut is very talented. He can eat and make kissy noises at the same time. He can eat and fly at the same time. He can fly and make kissy noises at the same time. And he can eat and poop at the same time. Just to name a few.

You'll notice that eating plays a large part in Peanut's daily multi-tasking activities.

One of his favorite tricks is to fly around with snacks in his beak. He brings his snacks with him, wherever he goes. Just today he brought a beakful of oat groats with him when he landed on my keyboard. I know this because when I picked him up to put him on my shoulder, there was a little pile of oat groat dust on the "T." Usually, I get snacks on my head, since that's where Peanut flies to the most. I have to remember to shake my head out before I go to bed, or get my hair cut. Or, clean out my bed every day, and buy dandruff shampoo from the hair stylist.

Now, I have to say the only time Bruce and I fight is when Peanut has mind controlled him into giving him half a dozen sunflower seeds at a time. "You're the human," I say. "You're the engineer," I say. "How many times do I have to tell you 'one at a time'?" But Bruce is very weak, and Peanut is very strong, and he almost always manages to eat all of the sunflower seeds by the time Bruce and I finish arguing.

This evening, Peanut flew to my head in preparation for Warm Toasties. Bruce reached into his seed stash to give Peanut a sunflower seed. In no uncertain terms — and I mean this, I even used foul language to make my point — I told him NOT to give Peanut a sunflower seed while he was on my head. But Bruce is a very weak man, and he did. He thought it was the funniest thing, ever.

Well, I warned him.

Haven't written much lately. Obviously. It's because I've been very busy giving nesting material to the Finsters, and sunflower seeds to Peanut. It's a full-time job, you know.